While listening to the audio Sunset at Gundabooka, as the sound of insects begins to crescendo, I can imagine why it’s subtitled Losing my Mind.

In high school, I was introduced to the concept of active listening, which discussed ways to stay engaged with whatever you were listening to. This practice was one of the earliest times listening and hearing were distinguished for me. While hearing is something that can be done passively, listening was a process that needed practice and intention to do effectively. While active listening was largely presented to me as a tool for students to pay better attention in classes, deep listening seems like its more holistic cousin.

Storytelling has always been a passion and skill of mine. Born from a love of books and movies, storytelling started as a gateway to new worlds and became a way for me to let others cross the threshold over into my own truths. The point Chiminanda N’gozi makes in her talk The Danger of A Single Story significantly reflects the main reason I hunger to tell and learn new stories.